CHENNAI: It’s been a strange summer for everyone but for FC Goa, it must have seemed even stranger. The club has long been one of the most stable outfits in the usually volatile Indian Super League, where teams have been known to go through multiple managers in a matter of months. That can be gauged from the fact that, prior to his departure during the last season, Sergio Lobera was only their second manager in six years of existence. And this stability meant that they were able to keep the core of their squad together for quite a while.
This summer though is one about rebuilding for the club that will represent India in the AFC Champions League next season after topping the league phase of the ISL. They already have a new manager in Juan Ferrando, who will bring in a number of new players. One familiar face who would be sticking on though is Edu Bedia. The 31-year-old Spaniard, who joined the club from Real Zaragoza in 2017, has signed a two-year extension to his contract and will be tasked with maintaining a link between the new and the old.
Bedia is looking forward to the task and has taken it upon himself to make the new arrivals feel at ease. “During the last few years, we’ve been able to keep the core of the whole team,” he said during an interaction organised by the club.
“It’s very difficult because in football, the squads keep changing. Now it’s our chance to change the core of the team. But I think my role will be the same as it has been during the last three years. I’ll try to help all the new players coming in. Especially the foreign players because this is my fourth year in Goa and I know how things work here.”
Despite Goa undergoing wholesale changes in personnel, Bedia chose to stick on because of how much he was enjoying playing for the club and life in Goa. “The club and myself, we decided to extend the contract because I’m really happy here,” he said. “I’m very happy with the club, the staff and my teammates. The life here in Goa is good for me.”And he believes he has an unfinished task at hand. “I think that Goa deserves to win a trophy. We have qualified for the AFC Champions League this year, but winning the ISL this year will be the icing on the cake.”
Bedia believes that in Ferrando, Goa has just the man needed to bring home that elusive trophy. “I have spoken a few times with the coach and he’s already ready to start working. I think he shares the same philosophy that the club has. One of the strong points of FC Goa has been that they’ve had a philosophy and stuck to it in all the seasons.”